1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,359
Speaker 1: It's fifteen thirty.

2
00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:06,400
Speaker 2: What's up for Malegor ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks for listening

3
00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,800
Speaker 2: today show Greek. He was available right now on Twitter

4
00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,880
Speaker 2: at Molegar. Thanks to share Facts Credit Union. You know

5
00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,320
Speaker 2: I say this every single day. I went to SHAREFFACS

6
00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:18,119
Speaker 2: Credit Union this morning and I had to make a

7
00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:23,040
Speaker 2: small deposit and it's it's one of the friendliest places

8
00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,239
Speaker 2: you will ever go to. And by the way, at

9
00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,400
Speaker 2: my branch here on the west side of Cincinnati, you

10
00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,040
Speaker 2: go in, you make your financial transaction. They have a

11
00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:35,199
Speaker 2: refrigerator full of soft drinks. Can't beat that. Become a

12
00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:38,320
Speaker 2: member at shaffactx dot org. Watch our show preview video.

13
00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:40,239
Speaker 2: It's really exciting and I'll tell you everything we have

14
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,640
Speaker 2: coming up on the show, which includes Kelsey Conway, who's

15
00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,120
Speaker 2: spent the week in Indianapolis covering the Bengals, and the

16
00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,760
Speaker 2: combine for the Inquirer coming up in just about fifteen minutes.

17
00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:51,720
Speaker 2: Some good stuff in the four o'clock hour on FC

18
00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,600
Speaker 2: Cincinnati and the Draft Reds are playing this afternoon with

19
00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,440
Speaker 2: Rhet Louder on the Hill and Goodyear against the Angels.

20
00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:00,480
Speaker 2: Will keep you up to date with what's happen in

21
00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,000
Speaker 2: that one. As the afternoon unfolds, there's a lot of

22
00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:07,440
Speaker 2: ground to cover. Busy college basketball weekend nationally, busy college

23
00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:12,319
Speaker 2: basketball weekend locally. And yes, the UC Bearricats are listed

24
00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:15,800
Speaker 2: among the teams that are the next four out on

25
00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:17,480
Speaker 2: Joe Lonardi's bracketology.

26
00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:19,880
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna.

27
00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,160
Speaker 2: Say that, and that's all we're gonna do, and we'll

28
00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,160
Speaker 2: spend some time on that a little bit later on.

29
00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,400
Speaker 2: So a couple of weeks ago, it was ruled by

30
00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:33,319
Speaker 2: an arbiter that the NFLPA is not allowed to release

31
00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,679
Speaker 2: it's not allowed to publicize their grades. You know, they

32
00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:40,479
Speaker 2: do the survey of all the NFL players and put

33
00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:42,360
Speaker 2: them all into a survey, put them all into a

34
00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,880
Speaker 2: report card for each team, and since they started doing

35
00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:48,520
Speaker 2: this in twenty twenty three, every year before this year

36
00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,320
Speaker 2: they would publicize it, release the results. And then an

37
00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,280
Speaker 2: arbiter stepped in and said, well, you're not allowed to

38
00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,120
Speaker 2: do that. But let's face it, there are a lot

39
00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:58,880
Speaker 2: of people who have access to this information and at

40
00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,680
Speaker 2: some point someone was gonna leak the information to people

41
00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:02,200
Speaker 2: in the media.

42
00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,520
Speaker 1: And so that's exactly what has happened.

43
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,200
Speaker 2: And the Bengals, the Bengals report card top to bottom

44
00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:15,440
Speaker 2: is not great. Now, they got good marks for some things.

45
00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:18,359
Speaker 2: In fact, they got good marks for some things that

46
00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,960
Speaker 2: you could argue matter the most, like for what it's worth.

47
00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:26,840
Speaker 2: Head coach Zach Taylor got an A minus. Offensive coordinator

48
00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,320
Speaker 2: Dan Pitcher is the offensive coordinator, even though he doesn't

49
00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,440
Speaker 2: call play. He's got an A minus. Defensive coordinator B plus,

50
00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,600
Speaker 2: al Golden Darren Simmons Special teams coordinator B plus. And

51
00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,160
Speaker 2: then stuff like locker room which is new A minus,

52
00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:44,200
Speaker 2: training room A minus, weight room a minus.

53
00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,080
Speaker 1: Strength coaches A some good stuff.

54
00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,400
Speaker 2: But let's be honest, the way this works, we only

55
00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:53,639
Speaker 2: really noticed the bad. We made fun of the Pittsburgh

56
00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:55,639
Speaker 2: Steelers yesterday because it's fun to make fun of the

57
00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:59,560
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers, but also because they they were dead last

58
00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,120
Speaker 2: thirty second among thirty two teams in the aggregate the

59
00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,600
Speaker 2: overall grade. But the Bengals got some really bad grades too.

60
00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,919
Speaker 2: They were twenty eighth. They got an F for nutritionist

61
00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:15,960
Speaker 2: slash dietitian. They got a D plus for team ownership.

62
00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,520
Speaker 2: They got an F minus for food and dining area.

63
00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,080
Speaker 2: They got an F minus for treatment of families. Now,

64
00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:28,840
Speaker 2: I was joking with Tony and Austin that like, yeah,

65
00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,600
Speaker 2: they must be making the uh the players wives and

66
00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,200
Speaker 2: kids like do manual labor during the games. That's obviously

67
00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,600
Speaker 2: not what's happening, at least I don't think it is.

68
00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,320
Speaker 2: But you know, treatment of families, and I think what

69
00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,160
Speaker 2: this comes down to. And I read a piece that

70
00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,520
Speaker 2: was written last year by Sarah Barshop of ESPN, and

71
00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:47,920
Speaker 2: she wrote this in the aftermath of last year's grades

72
00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,160
Speaker 2: where it's like, you know, Jesse Bates is quoted and

73
00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,760
Speaker 2: he's talking about how like when he was with the Bengals,

74
00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,360
Speaker 2: sometimes after games, catching up with his family, he would

75
00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:58,160
Speaker 2: actually have to like go out into the parking lot

76
00:03:58,280 --> 00:03:59,760
Speaker 2: or leave the stadium. And now there's like a de

77
00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,040
Speaker 2: a with the falcons for him to meet his family

78
00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,880
Speaker 2: after the game. What specific set up the Bengals have

79
00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,960
Speaker 2: for players in their families after games. I have no idea,

80
00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,400
Speaker 2: And there's a huge part of me that simply does

81
00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,520
Speaker 2: not care. And I would imagine you're exactly the same way.

82
00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,400
Speaker 2: But it's I think this comes down to lack of amenities,

83
00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:23,440
Speaker 2: maybe lack of childcare, maybe lack of dedicated concessions for

84
00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:28,279
Speaker 2: family members. Of players at Bengals games, maybe designated meeting

85
00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,679
Speaker 2: places for players to meet up with their families after games.

86
00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,040
Speaker 2: Maybe they're not being enough like family oriented activities that

87
00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,200
Speaker 2: the team puts forth that some teams do that maybe

88
00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,159
Speaker 2: the Bengals don't. I don't know. It is very easy.

89
00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,000
Speaker 2: It is very easy for those of us on the

90
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,919
Speaker 2: outside to go, come on, man, really, is this that

91
00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:49,799
Speaker 2: big of a deal?

92
00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:52,320
Speaker 1: Is this that big of a deal? Now?

93
00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,240
Speaker 2: First of all, the answer is yes, because the NFLPA

94
00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,760
Speaker 2: is a group that represents players and tries to achieve

95
00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,560
Speaker 2: the most money for the membership and the best possible

96
00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,440
Speaker 2: working conditions for their membership. And so you would imagine

97
00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,320
Speaker 2: any union would would want to give as much information

98
00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,479
Speaker 2: about the workplace, whether it's football or somewhere else, about

99
00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,800
Speaker 2: all the possible workplaces for their membership. And so that's

100
00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,320
Speaker 2: going to include some stuff that might matter more than others.

101
00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:20,719
Speaker 2: But that doesn't mean that the stuff like treatment of

102
00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,600
Speaker 2: families and food and dining area and nutritionists aren't important

103
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,560
Speaker 2: to me. It comes down to this, do you want

104
00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:34,159
Speaker 2: to do everything you do at the absolute highest possible level.

105
00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,240
Speaker 2: The answer should be yes. The answer should be yes.

106
00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:41,880
Speaker 2: Where you work the answer should be yes. Where I work,

107
00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:46,120
Speaker 2: the answer should be yes. For a major professional sports franchise,

108
00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,360
Speaker 2: do you want to do everything that you can at

109
00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:55,160
Speaker 2: the highest possible level. You want to have the best people.

110
00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:58,360
Speaker 2: You want to have the most amount of information made

111
00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,480
Speaker 2: available to you when you're picking players and making decisions

112
00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:03,920
Speaker 2: in games. You want to have the best possible players.

113
00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:06,080
Speaker 2: You want to have the best possible coaches. You want

114
00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,240
Speaker 2: to have the smartest personnel people. You want to have

115
00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:12,200
Speaker 2: the most qualified scouts. You do want the nicest amenities.

116
00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:15,360
Speaker 2: You want to have one of those workplaces that is

117
00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:20,800
Speaker 2: regarded as among the very best in your industry. So, like,

118
00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,159
Speaker 2: that's to me what this comes down to. Nobody is

119
00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:25,479
Speaker 2: gonna feel bad for an NFL player who's making a

120
00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:30,640
Speaker 2: lot of money who could probably pay for his own childcare. No, no,

121
00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,000
Speaker 2: nobody's gonna shed a tear for any one of these guys.

122
00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,560
Speaker 2: But like, do you want if you run a football team,

123
00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,000
Speaker 2: do you want to do things everything at the absolute

124
00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:41,400
Speaker 2: highest possible level.

125
00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:43,599
Speaker 1: The answer should be yes.

126
00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,800
Speaker 2: And I know, like the pushback to this is going

127
00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:50,280
Speaker 2: to be, well, like my job doesn't have amenities for

128
00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:57,160
Speaker 2: my family, Like mine doesn't yours doesn't. But if your

129
00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:02,719
Speaker 2: company's competitors did, suddenly such a thing would matter. Like

130
00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,239
Speaker 2: if if there were another media company that like started

131
00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,080
Speaker 2: extending all these incredible perks to my family, Like I'd go, well,

132
00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:11,680
Speaker 2: wait a minute, that's kind of what we.

133
00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:12,360
Speaker 1: Should be doing.

134
00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:14,080
Speaker 2: And at least I would like to think that people

135
00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,080
Speaker 2: who run the place that I work for would say

136
00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:16,680
Speaker 2: the same thing.

137
00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:19,120
Speaker 1: So, like, I know how this works.

138
00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:20,880
Speaker 2: The Bengals are going to take a beating and have

139
00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,320
Speaker 2: taken a beating, and to a large degree, deserve it.

140
00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:25,000
Speaker 1: The beating will come with people.

141
00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,720
Speaker 2: Ignoring some of the high marks that players gave the Bengals,

142
00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:29,960
Speaker 2: And like, nobody wants to hear that Zach Taylor's an

143
00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,560
Speaker 2: a minus head coach because he's missed the postseason each

144
00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:34,800
Speaker 2: of the last three years. And I kind of agree

145
00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:36,920
Speaker 2: he's not an a minus head coach. I think he's

146
00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:40,440
Speaker 2: about to be. But like you see these things like

147
00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,120
Speaker 2: treatment of families strikes me as something that's pretty easy

148
00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:47,960
Speaker 2: to fix. Food and nutrition and the dining area and

149
00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,160
Speaker 2: the dietitian strikes me as something that's probably pretty easy

150
00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:56,160
Speaker 2: to fix. Pretty basic stuff here, by the way they

151
00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:00,640
Speaker 2: have remoted the locker room. They have completely reimagined the room.

152
00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:03,720
Speaker 2: By all accounts, they have a good training staff, a

153
00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,440
Speaker 2: lot of physical amenities seem to be better than league average,

154
00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,720
Speaker 2: so to speak. But like this other stuff is first

155
00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,960
Speaker 2: of all, very easy to fix. Secondly, not that insignificant.

156
00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,240
Speaker 2: Like again, if you want to be a franchise that

157
00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:20,680
Speaker 2: does a lot of things at a really high level

158
00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:23,040
Speaker 2: and then some other stuff at not so high a level,

159
00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,760
Speaker 2: that's okay. There's lots of companies that way. But if

160
00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,200
Speaker 2: you have a choice of where you're going to work,

161
00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,960
Speaker 2: where you're going to make a living, aren't you going

162
00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,760
Speaker 2: to look for the place that does every possible thing

163
00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:41,600
Speaker 2: at the absolute highest level. That can include hardcore football stuff.

164
00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,640
Speaker 2: It can include stuff like taking care of your family's

165
00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:45,280
Speaker 2: on game day.

166
00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,680
Speaker 1: So it's it's not insignificant.

167
00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:51,800
Speaker 2: It doesn't mean we have to spend you know, the

168
00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:53,920
Speaker 2: rest of the weekend just banging on the Bengals because

169
00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:55,920
Speaker 2: of a handful of things that their players say they

170
00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:58,400
Speaker 2: don't do well. And by the way, you get mad

171
00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,079
Speaker 2: at the media for talking about it. This is direct

172
00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,120
Speaker 2: feedback from players, people who work for the Cincinnati Bengals,

173
00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:07,640
Speaker 2: the actual Bengals players.

174
00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:09,600
Speaker 1: Some of this stuff.

175
00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:13,960
Speaker 2: You just want to say, like Mike, Katie, Troy, Elizabeth,

176
00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:17,960
Speaker 2: do you want to do everything at the highest possible level,

177
00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,280
Speaker 2: or just some of the things at the highest possible level,

178
00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,920
Speaker 2: or nothing at the highest possible level. If the answers are, yeah,

179
00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,320
Speaker 2: we want to do everything at the highest possible level,

180
00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:30,720
Speaker 2: then fix some of this stuff that I think is

181
00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,439
Speaker 2: for the most part pretty easy to fix. Fourteen minutes

182
00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,720
Speaker 2: after three o'clock on Moweger, My phone lines are open

183
00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,360
Speaker 2: five point three seven four nine, fifteen thirty and eight

184
00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,720
Speaker 2: sixty six, seven two three, seven, seven to six. Rhet

185
00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,760
Speaker 2: Louder is a pitching for the Reds today in Goodyear,

186
00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,520
Speaker 2: making his first start. He appeared in the game U

187
00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,679
Speaker 2: last Saturday and against Cleveland, had a good first inning

188
00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:56,640
Speaker 2: that he pitched and then it kind of went sideways

189
00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:58,600
Speaker 2: and the second inning that he was on the mound.

190
00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:00,960
Speaker 2: Red So far today one score listening he has struck

191
00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,880
Speaker 2: out of ata Reds are hitting right now. It's a

192
00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,160
Speaker 2: scoreless bottom of the first. Uhaneo Suarez is in the

193
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,640
Speaker 2: starting lineup. Sal Stewart is in the starting lineup. NOELVEE.

194
00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:13,720
Speaker 2: Marteez leading off today. No Elie de la cruz among

195
00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,719
Speaker 2: A handful of other sal Stewart has just gotten a

196
00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:18,600
Speaker 2: base hit. We'll keep you up to date as to

197
00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,720
Speaker 2: how that game is unfolding as the afternoon moves on.

198
00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,120
Speaker 2: But first, our friend Kelsey Conway from The Inquirer and

199
00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:27,959
Speaker 2: Cincinnati dot Com has spent the week in Indy. Her

200
00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:30,760
Speaker 2: reflections of the combine and her thoughts on a whole

201
00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:34,240
Speaker 2: bunch of different Bengals topics. Next on ESPN fifteen thirty

202
00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:35,280
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Sports.

203
00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:39,240
Speaker 3: Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

204
00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:44,120
Speaker 4: Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center at uce Health.

205
00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:47,000
Speaker 4: They never miss a beat. Your heart shouldn't either. If

206
00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:49,960
Speaker 4: you have signs of a cardiac rhythm disorder, don't wait

207
00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:54,199
Speaker 4: to be seen. Schedule online at ucehealth dot Com found

208
00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,800
Speaker 4: two seventy five between Lovelin and Madeira Road and Ward's

209
00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,160
Speaker 4: Corner Road. There is an accident off through the left shoulder.

210
00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,200
Speaker 4: Police now on scene with a five minutes to laid

211
00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,880
Speaker 4: back from Montgomery Road. Also a crash State Route twenty

212
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:12,400
Speaker 4: eight that's near Dick Flynn Boulevard. I'm Metie Zelic with Traffic.

213
00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,079
Speaker 2: Bengals for The Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com. She has

214
00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,439
Speaker 2: been in Indianapolis. All week at the Combine. And by

215
00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,880
Speaker 2: the way, she's also taken your question. She's started a

216
00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:25,920
Speaker 2: new mail bag. Her first one has been published today

217
00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:30,160
Speaker 2: where she answers a question about the Brown family, Bengals ownership,

218
00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,920
Speaker 2: the business dynamic. Go read that at Cincinnati dot com

219
00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:36,480
Speaker 2: and keep your questions for Kelsey coming. I've promised her

220
00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:38,480
Speaker 2: that I will be submitting questions. But though I have

221
00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:40,160
Speaker 2: nothing to do with football, we'll see if she gets

222
00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:42,560
Speaker 2: to him. I do have football related questions for this segment.

223
00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,920
Speaker 2: She's here now. Hi, Kelsey, Hello, how are you?

224
00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,959
Speaker 1: I'm well? How was or is Indianapolis?

225
00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:51,400
Speaker 4: So?

226
00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:55,120
Speaker 5: Indianapolis was great. I'm back in Cincinnati. Had a good

227
00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,800
Speaker 5: three nights there in Indianapolis, and you know, came back.

228
00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:02,640
Speaker 3: With a lot. There's always like a lot to digest from.

229
00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:07,000
Speaker 5: Combine week because it's just like so much media access,

230
00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:10,960
Speaker 5: the draft experts, the Bengals make their coordinators available. Obviously,

231
00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,560
Speaker 5: you know what Zac and Duke said. So it's just

232
00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:15,319
Speaker 5: a lot to digest. But it was a good week.

233
00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,040
Speaker 2: Was there one thing that stood out to you, whether

234
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:22,800
Speaker 2: it be among all the things that were said by Zach, Duke,

235
00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:27,120
Speaker 2: Al and Dan and Darren or a general draft theme.

236
00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:30,480
Speaker 2: Was there one sort of overarching takeaway that stands out

237
00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:32,800
Speaker 2: above the others.

238
00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,960
Speaker 5: I think for me, the biggest thing that I took

239
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,440
Speaker 5: away is that last year Duke had that famous line

240
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:42,800
Speaker 5: where he said, you know, I'm not going to pay

241
00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:44,640
Speaker 5: for the same team, and then he brought back the

242
00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:47,000
Speaker 5: same a lot of the same players.

243
00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:50,000
Speaker 3: I think that them.

244
00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:57,600
Speaker 5: Saying we have the resources is essentially them putting themselves

245
00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:03,319
Speaker 5: in a situation where if they do not spend outside

246
00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:08,040
Speaker 5: of you know, giving extensions or resigning players, they put

247
00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:10,680
Speaker 5: themselves in a position where they could they have to

248
00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,920
Speaker 5: do what they said, and that means go get impact

249
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,760
Speaker 5: players and actually spend money. I think that they could

250
00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:20,360
Speaker 5: have danced around it if they weren't sure, but I

251
00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,920
Speaker 5: think Duke, Cobin and Al Golden just coming out and

252
00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,520
Speaker 5: saying we need more impact players like they weren't hiding

253
00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:29,760
Speaker 5: behind the fact that they need better players. So I

254
00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,920
Speaker 5: think for me, the biggest takeaway that I have is

255
00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:36,000
Speaker 5: that they understand they need better players, and that wasn't

256
00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,080
Speaker 5: the tone I got from Duke last year, so I

257
00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:40,199
Speaker 5: thought that was interesting.

258
00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:42,280
Speaker 3: But I will also say I.

259
00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:47,200
Speaker 5: Was really surprised at the core players that Al Golden

260
00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:50,800
Speaker 5: feels like he has there's more than I thought. So

261
00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:53,720
Speaker 5: I bring that up because I think Bengals fans need

262
00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:58,679
Speaker 5: to prepare themselves for free agency. They're going to sign players,

263
00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:00,560
Speaker 5: They're going to try to try.

264
00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,560
Speaker 3: And fill some holes, but they're probably not going.

265
00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,400
Speaker 5: To be those splashy, big names that you think.

266
00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:11,320
Speaker 3: So those were kind of my biggest takeaways, I guess

267
00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:11,640
Speaker 3: for me.

268
00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,320
Speaker 2: In that regard, what stood out was, you know a

269
00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,000
Speaker 2: lot of folks heard Al talk about Jordan Battle and

270
00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,120
Speaker 2: they were maybe taking the Battle. That didn't surprise me

271
00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:23,280
Speaker 2: as much. I thought it was striking to the degree

272
00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,160
Speaker 2: that he that he endorsed bj Hill and even Chris Jenkins.

273
00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:31,640
Speaker 5: Yeah, the Jordan Battle one was actually surprising to me.

274
00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:36,160
Speaker 5: I know, Jordan Battle is someone that they drafted in the.

275
00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,920
Speaker 3: Third round, and you know they had high regard for.

276
00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:41,320
Speaker 5: Him when he came in, and he had some issues

277
00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:46,720
Speaker 5: last year staying on the field. I know he's got

278
00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:51,600
Speaker 5: he did a good job at creating some turnovers. I

279
00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,120
Speaker 5: just don't I don't see it the way that they

280
00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,920
Speaker 5: do as far as like Jordan Battle being someone you

281
00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:01,320
Speaker 5: definitely go into next season saying he's one hundred percent

282
00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,440
Speaker 5: starting safety, but clearly they do. And I don't know

283
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,280
Speaker 5: if they just think that because you can only fix

284
00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:11,040
Speaker 5: so much, but they were certainly talking about like Jordan

285
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,120
Speaker 5: Battle could potentially be someone that they build around in

286
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,000
Speaker 5: the future, So that was a little bit interesting to me.

287
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,000
Speaker 5: I'm with you on the BJ Hill and Chris Jenkins.

288
00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:24,440
Speaker 5: I was never on board with the Vangles re signing

289
00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,120
Speaker 5: BJ Hill last year. I didn't think that made sense

290
00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:30,200
Speaker 5: at all, and I think it the biggest question about

291
00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:32,480
Speaker 5: BJ Hill last year was is he going to be

292
00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:34,320
Speaker 5: able to play enough? He you know, he hasn't been

293
00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,840
Speaker 5: able to get through a season with a high volume

294
00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:41,080
Speaker 5: of snaps without getting injured. But so you say BJ Hill,

295
00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:44,800
Speaker 5: he endorsed BJ and Chris. I think that bj Hill

296
00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,880
Speaker 5: is coming back next year. I know enough about that

297
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,360
Speaker 5: situation that I would be shocked if they move on

298
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:55,240
Speaker 5: from him. But I think that Duke also said we

299
00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:59,640
Speaker 5: can play better at defensive tackle. So in my opinion,

300
00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:01,960
Speaker 5: he he said, you know, I have confidence in BJ

301
00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:05,360
Speaker 5: and Chris, but I do think walking away like they

302
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:07,680
Speaker 5: know they need to get better at detackle, and I

303
00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,320
Speaker 5: do expect them to sign at least one player in

304
00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,200
Speaker 5: free agency at defensive tackle.

305
00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:15,880
Speaker 2: Kelsey Conway back from Indy covering the Bengals and the

306
00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,720
Speaker 2: Combine for The Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com. You wrote

307
00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,160
Speaker 2: leading up to the combine about Trey Hendrickson, and you

308
00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,600
Speaker 2: know this week being used as as a week to

309
00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:27,760
Speaker 2: gather intel as to whether or not they could tag

310
00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:30,600
Speaker 2: and trade him and get what they're looking for. The

311
00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,080
Speaker 2: window closing is getting here soon, right, and so we'll

312
00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,520
Speaker 2: see if they got what they needed and maybe go

313
00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,680
Speaker 2: ahead and tag them and then trade them. We'll see.

314
00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:44,080
Speaker 2: I would love to see this happen. I think it's

315
00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:48,040
Speaker 2: fair to be skeptical about whether or not the Bengals

316
00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,160
Speaker 2: and Trey Hendrickson's people can actually work together to get

317
00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:51,920
Speaker 2: such a deal done.

318
00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:52,840
Speaker 1: Do you feel the same.

319
00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,680
Speaker 5: Way I do. I think that I went into it

320
00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:59,600
Speaker 5: truly not knowing, like I've been trying to dig behind

321
00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,160
Speaker 5: the scene on like where do the Bengals stand with

322
00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:06,159
Speaker 5: this whole situation, And no matter who I talked to,

323
00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,040
Speaker 5: it was very much we don't know, we don't know what, like,

324
00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:10,800
Speaker 5: we don't know what they're going to do, we don't

325
00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:13,680
Speaker 5: know what we're going to do, And so I really

326
00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,240
Speaker 5: had no way to feel about it. Obviously I know

327
00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,320
Speaker 5: what I know about, you know, the last couple of

328
00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:23,800
Speaker 5: years and almost like how toxic things have become between

329
00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,200
Speaker 5: the Bengals and Trey Hendrickson. But you can still never

330
00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,240
Speaker 5: say it's one hundred percent over because of the fact that,

331
00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:34,560
Speaker 5: like the Bengal's biggest need is pass rush and we've

332
00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:37,080
Speaker 5: seen Mike Brown say I don't care like I'll tag you.

333
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:37,800
Speaker 3: I don't care.

334
00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:42,639
Speaker 5: But I do think leaving the combine, I do think

335
00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:47,880
Speaker 5: it's down to two things. It's they are going to talk.

336
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,879
Speaker 5: I don't know if they have, but I had the

337
00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,080
Speaker 5: impression that they were going to try and talk to

338
00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:54,480
Speaker 5: teams about.

339
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:55,960
Speaker 3: Potentially a trade.

340
00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,280
Speaker 5: I do think it's down to either a tag in

341
00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:01,439
Speaker 5: trade or they let him walk to free agency. I

342
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,000
Speaker 5: don't see a scenario in which he comes back. And

343
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,840
Speaker 5: I'm not saying that that's definitely.

344
00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:08,719
Speaker 3: Going to happen, but that's just my sense.

345
00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,000
Speaker 5: I wasn't sure of that before, and I didn't hear

346
00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,400
Speaker 5: one person tell me this week that they thought that

347
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,160
Speaker 5: that was even an option, So crazier things have happened.

348
00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:19,720
Speaker 5: I'll preface it with that, but I think it's down

349
00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,840
Speaker 5: to those two things. But I will say, everyone that

350
00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,280
Speaker 5: I talked to as far as like league sources said like,

351
00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,120
Speaker 5: and Douke Tobin even said it, like the trade part

352
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:34,280
Speaker 5: of it is really complicated, and all of this to say, well,

353
00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,040
Speaker 5: the Bengals really got themselves in a pickle by not

354
00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:39,320
Speaker 5: trading him last March.

355
00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:41,960
Speaker 3: I think that they're going to see this and if.

356
00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:45,119
Speaker 5: He goes to free agency and they spend and they

357
00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:47,520
Speaker 5: don't get the comp pig back that they maybe thought,

358
00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,760
Speaker 5: I think, and you know, they're not really one to

359
00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:53,959
Speaker 5: admit that they didn't they didn't get it right. I

360
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,080
Speaker 5: think that's going to go down in these next two

361
00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:59,960
Speaker 5: years as a decision that they probably wish that they

362
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,520
Speaker 5: could have taken back and just have moved traded him.

363
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:04,359
Speaker 5: And you know, I do know that there were teams

364
00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:06,440
Speaker 5: that were interested in giving the Bengals a third round

365
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:07,960
Speaker 5: pick around this time last year.

366
00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:12,159
Speaker 2: So they're not gonna they're not gonna let dault Riisner

367
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,360
Speaker 2: get away, right.

368
00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,119
Speaker 5: You know. The crazy here's the crazy thing with that Mo.

369
00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:25,359
Speaker 5: They like him, but why was he not sign to

370
00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:26,800
Speaker 5: an extension.

371
00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:27,760
Speaker 3: The day after the season.

372
00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,480
Speaker 5: You know, like there are other teams, but there are

373
00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:36,280
Speaker 5: other teams that agreed extensions during the season, and I

374
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,000
Speaker 5: know that Bengals don't like to do it, but I

375
00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,040
Speaker 5: think for a guy like Dalton Reisner, who was such

376
00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,040
Speaker 5: a great locker room leader, like I think you know,

377
00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:47,760
Speaker 5: he probably wasn't gonna be asking for the moon, Like

378
00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,560
Speaker 5: I think it could have been a very reasonable contract

379
00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,959
Speaker 5: with an agent who gets business. Don Drew Rosenhaus as

380
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:58,000
Speaker 5: an agent, like he's very good at negotiating and from

381
00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:00,640
Speaker 5: what I understand, like he's an agent that the Bengals

382
00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,119
Speaker 5: actually do like have a good relationship with. So like

383
00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:07,280
Speaker 5: for me, that's the head scratching move where he's everything

384
00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,000
Speaker 5: you want in a veteran presence in the locker room,

385
00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,359
Speaker 5: you play well down the stretch, Like that deal should

386
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,199
Speaker 5: have been done. They should have.

387
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,360
Speaker 3: Approached Dalton Reisner before the end of the.

388
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,760
Speaker 5: Season and given him, hey, we value you so much

389
00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,479
Speaker 5: that we want to sleeten this deal a little bit,

390
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,120
Speaker 5: knowing you probably wish you could go to free agency.

391
00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:29,199
Speaker 5: So when you ask me, they're not going to let

392
00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,760
Speaker 5: him go, I think that they want him back, but

393
00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,760
Speaker 5: I think that they got to get move in on

394
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,000
Speaker 5: that because he did play well down the stretch. And

395
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,679
Speaker 5: it's another one where, like I think that could have

396
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:42,480
Speaker 5: been done before the end of the season.

397
00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:44,280
Speaker 3: And that's how you kind of.

398
00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,440
Speaker 5: Make sure these good players that remember Joe Burrow said,

399
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,359
Speaker 5: we don't like good players leave the building like that.

400
00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,120
Speaker 5: That's an example of one where they got to get

401
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:52,040
Speaker 5: move in on that one.

402
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,800
Speaker 2: Ruben Bain has tiny arms? Is that a disqualifier for

403
00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:57,640
Speaker 2: the Bengals?

404
00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:03,000
Speaker 3: I think? So here's the thing.

405
00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:07,120
Speaker 5: It's gonna be hard to say if if the Bengals

406
00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:09,959
Speaker 5: draft Ruben Baine, if Caleb Downs is off the board,

407
00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:14,159
Speaker 5: David Bailey's off the board, Sony Styles is off the board, Like,

408
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:18,280
Speaker 5: it's hard to say Ruben Baine was his production, that'd

409
00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:19,439
Speaker 5: be a bad pick.

410
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,640
Speaker 3: I look at it this way. He's really good. He's

411
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:24,440
Speaker 3: really physical.

412
00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:27,000
Speaker 5: I was in there listening to him talk to the media,

413
00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:29,280
Speaker 5: like you could feel kind of his edge, and I

414
00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:32,000
Speaker 5: think the Bengals badly need some players with edge on

415
00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:36,760
Speaker 5: the defensive line. But you know what, do the Bengals

416
00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,000
Speaker 5: need more than anything as someone who's going to make

417
00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,360
Speaker 5: an impact at the NFL level right away? Not one

418
00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,440
Speaker 5: of these Well, we got to learn how to get

419
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,280
Speaker 5: him going with the limitations of you know.

420
00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:50,720
Speaker 3: His wingspan. I think that they need the plug.

421
00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:54,680
Speaker 5: And play guy that can come in during training camp

422
00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,080
Speaker 5: and take over the defense. And I just don't know

423
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,399
Speaker 5: with like those limitations, it's a little bit of a

424
00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:02,600
Speaker 5: question mark. And the Bengals took a question mark pick

425
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,680
Speaker 5: with Shamar, Like, I really feel like this year it's

426
00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,879
Speaker 5: got to be the guy that you have no questions about,

427
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,120
Speaker 5: and to me, that is a that is a star

428
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,879
Speaker 5: on Ruben Bane. I think he has the potential to

429
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:16,760
Speaker 5: be able to overcome it, but it's one of those

430
00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:19,000
Speaker 5: things where they've got to knock this pick out of

431
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,080
Speaker 5: the park at number ten and I just don't know

432
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:25,080
Speaker 5: if Ruben Baine, with those questions about his arm length,

433
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,320
Speaker 5: is going to be able to give the Bengals.

434
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:28,400
Speaker 3: That next year.

435
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:31,439
Speaker 2: I will say this, I thought he handled all the

436
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,720
Speaker 2: questions that came at him very very well. I was

437
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,240
Speaker 2: super impressed by him, and I was and I was

438
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,960
Speaker 2: super impressed by Caleb Downs, Like there's all the stuff

439
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:42,480
Speaker 2: you see when you watch him, and I've said on

440
00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:44,840
Speaker 2: this show, like I watch really smart people break down

441
00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:46,399
Speaker 2: his tape who know a lot more than I do,

442
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,720
Speaker 2: and I just I salivate over it. And then I

443
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 2: listened to the dude talk and it's like, man, I

444
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 2: get it, he plays safety. There's positional value, but why

445
00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:57,560
Speaker 2: would you not want that guy on your team? And

446
00:22:57,800 --> 00:22:59,680
Speaker 2: so both those players, for me, and there were others,

447
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 2: I thought both handled that part of the combine extraordinarily well.

448
00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:09,639
Speaker 5: Absolutely, And I do think that halob downs and I

449
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:13,800
Speaker 5: do think Sony styles. I don't based off the way

450
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,800
Speaker 5: he tested, he could be gone. But I do think

451
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,560
Speaker 5: those are two players that just because the Bengals have

452
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,440
Speaker 5: two linebackers that they drafted last year, I do think

453
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,600
Speaker 5: those are two players like high on the Bengals radar.

454
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:30,840
Speaker 2: Well, by the way, I just I don't know if

455
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,080
Speaker 2: you measured your arms, but mine were thirty and a

456
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 2: quarter of an inch yesterday. I measured my arms.

457
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,359
Speaker 5: I have no idea, and who knows. You know, in

458
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,920
Speaker 5: a couple of years, Ruben Baine, it could be awesome

459
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:44,560
Speaker 5: and and we're I can't believe we talked about this

460
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:48,840
Speaker 5: guy's arm lines. I just know that, like you know,

461
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,840
Speaker 5: what happens if it doesn't work, and it's you know,

462
00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:55,119
Speaker 5: you got two picks back to back in years where

463
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,879
Speaker 5: there were some questions about there what they project, and

464
00:23:57,920 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 5: I just think it's a year where the Bengals have

465
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 5: gotten nail it, and I just don't know if you

466
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:02,560
Speaker 5: can with.

467
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:04,480
Speaker 1: Him one more.

468
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,200
Speaker 2: If it's not Joe Flacco, who should the Bengals backup

469
00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:07,840
Speaker 2: quarterback be.

470
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,719
Speaker 5: So I thought about this one a lot, and I

471
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,480
Speaker 5: know if I say this name, people.

472
00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:20,440
Speaker 3: You know my raise their eyebrows. But let me explain why.

473
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,360
Speaker 5: I think that the Bengals need a player like maybe

474
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:30,480
Speaker 5: Carson Wentz, where it's he's been a starter for multiple

475
00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:35,439
Speaker 5: teams and you're picking this player assuming that he is

476
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:39,000
Speaker 5: going to play one or two games a year and

477
00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 5: they must win games. And so when I look at

478
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,760
Speaker 5: the list of pending free agent quarterbacks that I think

479
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 5: the Bengals you know, will pay for, he's one that

480
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,119
Speaker 5: me really stood out because he's got experience in a

481
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:56,439
Speaker 5: lot of offenses that Zach Taylor has high regard for,

482
00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 5: like the Rams, the Chiefs, you know, those offenses that

483
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,800
Speaker 5: they're not the same as the Bengals. But I really think.

484
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 3: That they're going to be in the market for.

485
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,359
Speaker 5: A guy that has won games as a starter, not

486
00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 5: so much a name you don't know much of. I

487
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,040
Speaker 5: think that they learn the lesson that you know, even

488
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,400
Speaker 5: if it's just a tiny injury for Joe where he's

489
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,480
Speaker 5: you know, he's missing one game or Max too like

490
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,400
Speaker 5: and you got to win those to get into the playoffs.

491
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:25,600
Speaker 5: I think they're going to think of it like who

492
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,120
Speaker 5: can come in and execute the offense at a high

493
00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,800
Speaker 5: level and distribute the ball, And you know Carson Wentz

494
00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:34,800
Speaker 5: he can't do that. So I think he's one that

495
00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 5: I'm curious to see the Bengals interest.

496
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,119
Speaker 3: In him and where that goes.

497
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:44,400
Speaker 2: You're taking questions from readers. You published your first mailbag

498
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,240
Speaker 2: response today. Where can people submit questions to you on

499
00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:48,760
Speaker 2: what kind of questions are you looking for?

500
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,000
Speaker 5: So I am open to any questions about the Bengals

501
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 5: or the NFL. This is just a way for me

502
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 5: to try and engage with our readers over at Cincinnati

503
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,760
Speaker 5: dot com. And so you can email me if you

504
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,640
Speaker 5: go on Cincinnati dot com in the story my first

505
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:06,840
Speaker 5: mail bag release, my email is in there, and then

506
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,000
Speaker 5: also just shoot me a message on on X. I'm

507
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,200
Speaker 5: pretty active there too, and so I will try to

508
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,160
Speaker 5: get to as many questions as possible. I was really excited.

509
00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:18,680
Speaker 5: I got a ton of questions last week. So if

510
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:20,760
Speaker 5: you're listening and you have a question in mode doesn't

511
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 5: answer it. You can take a shot with me online.

512
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,159
Speaker 5: He's pretty good. He answers a lot of questions. But

513
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,399
Speaker 5: if there's something else that you have, it's just a

514
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,520
Speaker 5: way for me to try and engage more with our

515
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:35,720
Speaker 5: readers over there. So shoot them my way.

516
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:38,600
Speaker 1: All right, check out out at Cincinnati dot com.

517
00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,439
Speaker 2: By the way, really quick while we're while we're on

518
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,600
Speaker 2: the internet, Joe lenardidebracketologist for ESPN dot com, has our

519
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 2: Bearcats as seventy six, next four out.

520
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:51,879
Speaker 1: They've got a pulse killsel. Do you believe as I

521
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:52,600
Speaker 1: do that they will.

522
00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,040
Speaker 2: Win their next six games and have their name pop

523
00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:57,040
Speaker 2: up on the screen on selection Sunday.

524
00:26:57,680 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 3: Email, No, it's funny out.

525
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:03,040
Speaker 5: It's Friday. I'm gonna try and have some good fives.

526
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 5: I'm going to the game tomorrow.

527
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 3: I'll be there.

528
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,639
Speaker 5: I'm really excited. I'm gonna I'm just gonna sprinkle some

529
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:10,919
Speaker 5: optimism here and say let's go for it.

530
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,120
Speaker 3: Sure, I do think they can win out.

531
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,960
Speaker 5: And that time the doom and gloom, it's almost March.

532
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 5: Let's just, you know, provide some positivity around see basketball

533
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:21,920
Speaker 5: and see what they can do.

534
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,959
Speaker 2: I've already made plans to watch their first round NCAA

535
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,680
Speaker 2: tournament game at the Holy Grail with you. So put

536
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 2: that on your calendar because it's online and we'll talk soon.

537
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:33,400
Speaker 1: Thank you very much.

538
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,480
Speaker 5: Thanks so much for having me on though, you're the best.

539
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,960
Speaker 2: Kelsey Conway covering the Bengals for the Inquirer and Cincinnati

540
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,760
Speaker 2: dot Com. Taking your questions submit them on her mail bag.

541
00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,320
Speaker 2: We are way late twenty three from four o'clock sports

542
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:51,600
Speaker 2: headlines on ESPN, their next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

543
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 3: Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

544
00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:58,040
Speaker 1: Traffic from the.

545
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,080
Speaker 4: UC Health Traffic Center at you See Health. They never

546
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,760
Speaker 4: miss a beat. Your heart shouldn't either. If you have

547
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 4: signs of a cardiac rhythm disorder, don't wait to be seen.

548
00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:12,240
Speaker 4: Schedule online at ucehealth dot com. Northbound four to seventy one,

549
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,680
Speaker 4: the off ramp to southbound seventy run remains blocked off

550
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,720
Speaker 4: that from a truck losing its load on that ramp

551
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,199
Speaker 4: southbound seventy five. A new accident in that one on

552
00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:25,240
Speaker 4: the entrance ramp from Shepherd Lane. Watch for that ramp

553
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,600
Speaker 4: traffic merging early. I met ezeleic with traffic.

554
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,480
Speaker 2: This report is sponsive sports headlines or a service to

555
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:36,359
Speaker 2: Kelsea Chevrolet Home of lifetime powertrain protection and a guarantee

556
00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:39,160
Speaker 2: credit approval from their family to Yours for life kelseyshev

557
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,000
Speaker 2: dot Com Rehet Louder is making his third start of

558
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 2: the spring three good innings so far. For Ready has

559
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,280
Speaker 2: struck out three, given up just one hit, and actually

560
00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:48,280
Speaker 2: hasn't given up any heads.

561
00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:51,000
Speaker 1: He walked a guy. There's a difference if he was.

562
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:53,000
Speaker 2: If he was coming back out for the fourth and

563
00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:54,840
Speaker 2: I don't know that he is or he isn't, he

564
00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:56,760
Speaker 2: would have a no hitter going right now. The Reds

565
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,840
Speaker 2: is a team, have a spring training no hitter going.

566
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 2: It's one nothing. Cincinnati Jose Travino drove in the only

567
00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:05,600
Speaker 2: run of the game. Reds batting in the bottom of

568
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 2: the third College basketball tonight. The twenty first rated Miami

569
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:13,400
Speaker 2: RedHawks on the road again tonight at Western Michigan. Miami

570
00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:16,520
Speaker 2: won the first matchup between these two teams eighty seven

571
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,040
Speaker 2: to seventy six. That game tips off in Kalamazoo at

572
00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,960
Speaker 2: six o'clock tonight. Also, the Dayton Flyers, looking for a

573
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:28,640
Speaker 2: fifth consecutive victory coming off their win over Saint Louis.

574
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:34,040
Speaker 2: The other night, the Flyers take on George Washington. George Washington.

575
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 2: They are no longer the Colonials. The game is in Washington, DC.

576
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,720
Speaker 2: They are the Revolutionaries. Also, there is a good Top

577
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,160
Speaker 2: ten matchup tonight between Michigan and Illinois. Tomorrow's Xavier host

578
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,920
Speaker 2: Georgetown Musketeers have lost three straight. Hoyas have lost five

579
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 2: consecutive games. XU did win the first matchup. That's the

580
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,160
Speaker 2: game where Ed Cooley threw a water bottle because he

581
00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:58,560
Speaker 2: was mad and it hit like it was like the

582
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:02,400
Speaker 2: sun or the nephew of one of his and Cooley

583
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,800
Speaker 2: got mad. He has reasons to be mad because his

584
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,720
Speaker 2: team stinks. That game is tomorrow at one thirty at

585
00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,960
Speaker 2: the Cintas Center. You see his home for Oklahoma State.

586
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:18,080
Speaker 2: The Cowboys won their last game against West Virginia. Tomorrow's

587
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 2: tips off at two. You can hear that on seven

588
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,720
Speaker 2: hundred wlow Kentucky tries to avenge a blowout loss earlier

589
00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,720
Speaker 2: this season to Vanderbilt. I feel like right now Kentucky

590
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:31,640
Speaker 2: would be safely in the NCAA tournament. The problem is,

591
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:34,880
Speaker 2: I think they're going to make it. My guess is

592
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:36,520
Speaker 2: they find a way to win one of these last

593
00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:39,000
Speaker 2: three games, but the schedule now there are no more

594
00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:42,840
Speaker 2: South Carolina's on Kentucky's remaining schedule. Tomorrow's game can be

595
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 2: heard on ESPN fifteen thirty at tips off at two o'clock.

596
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:49,400
Speaker 2: Louisville at Clemson tomorrow and Tomorrow night on ESPN fifteen thirty.

597
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,400
Speaker 2: NKU battles Right State. Now the Norse still have a

598
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:57,200
Speaker 2: chance to play a home game in the Horizon League Tournament.

599
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,240
Speaker 2: In order for that to happen, this is their last

600
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:02,880
Speaker 2: regular season game. They take on Wright State tomorrow night.

601
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:07,480
Speaker 2: NKU has to win, green Bay has to win, They

602
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:11,040
Speaker 2: need a Detroit Mercy loss and a Perdue Fort Wayne loss.

603
00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,880
Speaker 2: So like four things have to happen for the North

604
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,760
Speaker 2: to host a game in the Horizon League Tournament. Sunday,

605
00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:21,600
Speaker 2: it's Ohio State taking on Perdue. If you're a Bearcat fan,

606
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 2: you might already be rooting against the Buckeyes, But if

607
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,960
Speaker 2: you believe Cincinnati has a chance to make the NCAA Tournament,

608
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,479
Speaker 2: you gotta start watching some of these games involving teams

609
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 2: they have to leap frog one of them. One of

610
00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 2: those teams is Ohio State. Another is Indiana, and look,

611
00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,520
Speaker 2: we're having fun with this. We are talking about something

612
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:45,360
Speaker 2: that is extraordinarily unlikely, which we'll dive into in just

613
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 2: a second. Soccer tomorrow, FC Cincinnati is on the road

614
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:51,880
Speaker 2: against Minnesota and that game can be heard on the

615
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,840
Speaker 2: Project one oh six point three and one hundred point seven.

616
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,360
Speaker 2: Cyclones skate tonight on the road against Fort Wayne. They've

617
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:02,200
Speaker 2: got there since Natty three ways home game tomorrow against

618
00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:05,720
Speaker 2: Kalamazoo and then another game on Sunday afternoon against Kalamazoo.

619
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:08,400
Speaker 2: We had just and Vive on the show yesterday who

620
00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:11,240
Speaker 2: with his next point will be the all time leader

621
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:15,080
Speaker 2: endpoints in Cyclones franchise history. If you miss that conversation,

622
00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:19,960
Speaker 2: it is available on the iHeartRadio app. The UC thing

623
00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:25,880
Speaker 2: we're having fun with, but it does feel like their

624
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:31,560
Speaker 2: tournament chances have a pulse now. I think sometimes what

625
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,480
Speaker 2: we do is we talk about like, well, if they

626
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:36,800
Speaker 2: win these many games, that are going to be fine.

627
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,560
Speaker 2: I agree with something that Chad Brendel said on the

628
00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:42,040
Speaker 2: show yesterday, which that conversation is also on the iHeartRadio app.

629
00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,560
Speaker 2: I feel like conference tournaments we overstate their importance. I

630
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:49,600
Speaker 2: love them. I love conference tournaments. Next next, well, next

631
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,680
Speaker 2: week is when some conference tournaments begin, like the Horizon League.

632
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,400
Speaker 2: But champ Week, which used to be Championship Week, is

633
00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,920
Speaker 2: my favorite week on the sports calendar because I love

634
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 2: the positioning, I love the dash to get in. I

635
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,200
Speaker 2: love there being a billion games on seemingly twenty four

636
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:08,959
Speaker 2: hours a day for like five days straight. But I

637
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,680
Speaker 2: do think we overstate the impact of winning games in

638
00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:16,080
Speaker 2: the conference tournament on how the bracket is compiled. And

639
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:21,280
Speaker 2: I think sometimes like and Jolnardi, who has God love him,

640
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,400
Speaker 2: He's created bracketology. He's made a lot of money over

641
00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:28,840
Speaker 2: on being the bracketologist of record year in and year out,

642
00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,120
Speaker 2: He's rarely the most accurate. I think our guy Hunter

643
00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:34,200
Speaker 2: Sansum is better, but for what it's worth, Jolanardi has

644
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:38,600
Speaker 2: the most widely known bracketology website and he's got Cincinnati

645
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:44,280
Speaker 2: as team number seventy six. I think what we do sometimes,

646
00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:48,040
Speaker 2: and I'm guilty of it as well, is we fail

647
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,360
Speaker 2: to understand how hard it is this late in the

648
00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:56,640
Speaker 2: season to jump all those teams, most of which, if

649
00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:57,800
Speaker 2: not all, will win.

650
00:33:57,680 --> 00:33:58,760
Speaker 1: A game at some point.

651
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:01,959
Speaker 2: It's really hard to go from seventy six to sixty

652
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:06,080
Speaker 2: eight now they can start with a win against Oklahoma

653
00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:11,080
Speaker 2: State tomorrow. It's not a very good Oka State team,

654
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:14,000
Speaker 2: but the margin for error is almost non existent. And

655
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:15,359
Speaker 2: by the way, you're not going to get a lot

656
00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:17,400
Speaker 2: of credit for beating Oklahoma State. That's going to be

657
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,360
Speaker 2: a Q three win. You've got to beat a good,

658
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:22,920
Speaker 2: even without Richie Saunders BYU team, and you have to

659
00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:24,680
Speaker 2: go on the road and beat a TCU team that

660
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:28,480
Speaker 2: is fighting for its at large lives as well, plus

661
00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:31,480
Speaker 2: play in the Big Twelve tournament and maybe win as

662
00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 2: many as three games before you feel like they're in.

663
00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:37,319
Speaker 2: And even if they do that, I'm not sure you're

664
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,680
Speaker 2: going to wake up on Selection Sunday feeling like they

665
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:44,799
Speaker 2: are in. Now all of that said, as frustrating as

666
00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:48,080
Speaker 2: Tuesday Night's loss was, three weeks ago, nobody was entertaining

667
00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:52,600
Speaker 2: this possibility. So they've gone from no one even looking

668
00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:57,480
Speaker 2: at bubble Watch and bracketology and pondering their NCAA tournament

669
00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:01,160
Speaker 2: chances to now at least acknowledging that they're faint.

670
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:02,919
Speaker 1: But they are there.

671
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:07,759
Speaker 2: And if you're like me, and for the most part,

672
00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:11,080
Speaker 2: for your sake, I hope you're not, you know you

673
00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,560
Speaker 2: can kind of get lost this weekend in not just

674
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:15,759
Speaker 2: rooting for you. See, if you're a Bearcat fan, and

675
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:17,560
Speaker 2: the first thing that has to happen is they've got

676
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:21,279
Speaker 2: to beat Oklahoma State at home. Oklahoma State without a

677
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,320
Speaker 2: player who's averaging more than fourteen points a game, suffered

678
00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:28,480
Speaker 2: an ACL tear in the game against West Virginia. But

679
00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:30,600
Speaker 2: you start to look at some of the teams that

680
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:34,880
Speaker 2: are theoretically either in front of them or in competition

681
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,799
Speaker 2: with them for a spot, and that's fun this time

682
00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:39,600
Speaker 2: of year. It's more fun this time of year when

683
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:43,560
Speaker 2: you know your team is getting in. But they do

684
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:48,360
Speaker 2: have a shot, it's a very outside shot. It's extremely,

685
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:53,000
Speaker 2: extremely unlikely. I've been accused of being too negative as

686
00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:57,520
Speaker 2: it relates to their NCAA tournament chances. Because this team,

687
00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:00,719
Speaker 2: which has been a model of inconsistency, lots of ups

688
00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:04,799
Speaker 2: and downs on offense, you're asking them to win at

689
00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:08,279
Speaker 2: least five consecutive games, and I would argue probably six

690
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:11,800
Speaker 2: consecutive games. And you need all the other things around

691
00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:14,040
Speaker 2: them to happen as well. You need no bidstealers, you

692
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:16,760
Speaker 2: need probably Ohio State to lose a lot of games

693
00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:18,960
Speaker 2: in Indiana to lose a lot of games, and TCU

694
00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:21,400
Speaker 2: to lose a lot of games. In Seaton Hall to

695
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,640
Speaker 2: lose a lot of games, and you know, chances are

696
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:26,600
Speaker 2: at least some of those teams are going to win

697
00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:29,480
Speaker 2: some games. It's what we're hoping they do. And by

698
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:33,080
Speaker 2: the way, this is just one person's projection. You know,

699
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,680
Speaker 2: how the committee views Cincinnati is an entirely different story.

700
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:39,600
Speaker 2: But at the very least, they've gone from this being

701
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:42,920
Speaker 2: just not even a conversation to one that you at

702
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:46,200
Speaker 2: least look at those websites to see if Cincinnati is

703
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:48,839
Speaker 2: being regarded as having a chance. And for the most

704
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:51,919
Speaker 2: part they are. Again from a pure basketball perspective, which

705
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,839
Speaker 2: is what is of far more importance, how do they

706
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:56,400
Speaker 2: play well and offensively?

707
00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:57,200
Speaker 1: Favorite?

708
00:36:57,239 --> 00:36:59,480
Speaker 2: They'll be favorite tomorrow. I have not seen the line yet,

709
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:01,960
Speaker 2: but they'll be fair tomorrow. I think they're gonna be

710
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,439
Speaker 2: slight home dogs against BYU. I'm pretty sure they're gonna

711
00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:10,120
Speaker 2: be road dogs against TCU. And then I think, if

712
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 2: I'm looking at this correctly, and I might not be,

713
00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 2: I think they can get as high as the seventh

714
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:18,239
Speaker 2: seed in the Big Twelve tournament. Then it's matchups and

715
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:22,600
Speaker 2: all that sort of stuff. But for this to happen,

716
00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:26,560
Speaker 2: a series of events is going to have to occur.

717
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:32,919
Speaker 2: And there's a difference between each and all those games

718
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:35,040
Speaker 2: I just mentioned. Cincinnati can win each of them? Can

719
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:37,640
Speaker 2: they win all of them plus a few more in

720
00:37:37,719 --> 00:37:40,640
Speaker 2: Kansas City, Let's be honest with the way they've played.

721
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:41,920
Speaker 1: The likely answer is no.

722
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,160
Speaker 2: But it's at least something we're entertaining, and we were

723
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:47,680
Speaker 2: not doing that a couple of weeks ago, night away

724
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:50,920
Speaker 2: from four o'clock FC Cincinnati I mentioned is on the

725
00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:51,400
Speaker 2: road tomorrow.

726
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:51,920
Speaker 1: Kendrick D.

727
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,759
Speaker 2: St Aubin has the call for Apple TV. It's a

728
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:57,680
Speaker 2: day game tomorrow. Looking forward to chatting with her. And

729
00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:01,719
Speaker 2: we've got a guy at fourth row. He's actually from Cincinnati.

730
00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:07,319
Speaker 2: He's actually a Bengals fan grinding the mocks, So we're

731
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,360
Speaker 2: gonna spend the next two months obsessing over mock drafts.

732
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:12,680
Speaker 2: This guy does this for a living, and he puts

733
00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 2: them all into one place. He kind of looks at

734
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:17,040
Speaker 2: all the mock drafts, so you and I don't have to.

735
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:19,560
Speaker 2: We'll chat with him about the Bengals in the draft

736
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:22,719
Speaker 2: coming up at four thirty five. I also might do

737
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:25,560
Speaker 2: a line by line explanation of something I put on

738
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:27,759
Speaker 2: Twitter last night. Coming up in the four o'clock hour.

739
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:30,120
Speaker 2: It's eight away from four. I'm moegar glad you with

740
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:33,279
Speaker 2: us today on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

741
00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:36,800
Speaker 3: Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

742
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:41,919
Speaker 4: Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center at uc Health,

743
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,799
Speaker 4: they never miss the beat. Your heart shouldn't either. If

744
00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:47,719
Speaker 4: you have signs of a cardiac rhythm disorder, don't wait

745
00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:52,319
Speaker 4: to be seen. Schedule online at UCHealth dot com. Northbound

746
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:55,320
Speaker 4: four to seventy one, the off ramp the southbound seventy

747
00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:58,439
Speaker 4: run remains blocked off that from a truck losing its

748
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:02,560
Speaker 4: load on that ramp. Southbound seventy five. A new accident

749
00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,359
Speaker 4: in that one on the entrance ramp from Shepherd Lane.

750
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:08,960
Speaker 4: Watch for that ramp traffic merging early. I met ezelic

751
00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:09,760
Speaker 4: with traffic.

752
00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:12,480
Speaker 1: This report is sponsored by brad Versus